The Sustainable
Development Goals
and WaterAid
Investment in WASH
There is increasing global awareness of the
importance of water, sanitation and hygiene
(WASH) to alleviate poverty. Investing in WASH
requires an integrated approach with first steps
required at the household, community, district
and country level.
Given the number of intersections between
business and WASH, and the diversity of
business activities and models globally, the
business case for engaging on WASH is multifaceted. The most obvious alignment and in
fact, greatest need, is in providing WASH access
and education for working people, both in their
places of employment and wider communities.
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Access to water and other services such as
toilets are basic human rights. With improved
access we are able to stop the spread of deadly
diseases and improve people’s health and
living conditions.
Businesses that are already engaging on WASH
make a clear link between business value, and
the societal benefit or development impact
generated by investing in WASH.
A global vision to end
extreme poverty by 2030
beginning with water and
sanitation.
The SDGs call for worldwide collective
action among governments, business and
civil society to end poverty and create a life
of dignity and opportunity for all, within
the boundaries of the planet.
Sustainable Development Goal 6:
Ensure availability and
sustainable management of
water and sanitation for all
Access to water and sanitation has
far-reaching impacts, it creates
fairer, more productive and
healthier communities. Therefore,
water, sanitation and hygiene
extends far beyond Goal 6. WASH
On 25 September 2015, world leaders adopted
the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,
redefining how the global community will work
together to address poverty and improve living
standards, while ensuring development is
sustainable. The 17 goals cover a range of issues
from water and sanitation to poverty, gender
equality, health and climate change.
Become a champion of WASH
with WaterAid and part of the
broader global movement to
achieve the SDGs.
The United Nations Member States and other
World leaders have publicly acknowledged
that universal access to water and sanitation is
vital for eradicating poverty and fundamental to
sustainable development. Goal 6 therefore provides
an opportunity to ensure that water, sanitation
and hygiene are prioritised within the sustainable
development agenda at all levels.
is an essential component of an
integrated approach to tackling
poverty, hunger, health and
inequality. Successful realisation
of goal 6 will underpin progress
across many other goals, including:
Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere - The
definition of poverty used for the Global Goals is that
everyone has access to basic services, of which water and
sanitation are two of the most fundamental.
Goal 2: End hunger, achieve food security and improved
nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture - Reducing
malnutrition is the second target in this goal. 50%
of malnutrition is attributable not just to lack of food
consumption, but also repeated episodes of diarrhoea.
Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at
all ages - Universal access to WASH will help reach targets for
global health, including reducing infant mortality and waterrelated diseases.
Goal 4: Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and
promote lifelong learning opportunities for all - Improving
access to appropriate, private toilets in schools contributes to
adolescent girls staying in school for longer
Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women
and girls - Access to WASH has a direct impact on the health
of women and girls throughout their lives.
Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe,
resilient and sustainable - Lack of WASH services is enough to
classify a dwelling as a slum, so improvements in these areas
is a necessary condition to achieve this goal.
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Other Global Goals that
have links to WASH
Goal 9: Build resilient
infrastructure,
promote inclusive
and sustainable
industrialisation and
foster innovation.
Goal 10: Reduce
inequality within and
among countries.
Goal 13: Take urgent
action to combat
climate change and
its impacts.
The Opportunities
and challenges
Today, more than 650 million people live
without safe, clean water and 2.3 billion live
without sanitation. However, there is real
hope for the future, with countries across the
world strongly supporting the United Nations
Sustainability Development Goals.
Rapid Urbanisation, population growth
and economic development present
increasing and competing demands for water.
Based on current trends, the population in
Asia is expected to reach 4.9 Billion by 2030.
Meeting domestic needs as well as those of
agriculture, energy and industry presents complex
and competing challenges for water resource
management, environmental protection and the
treatment of waste.
Climate change is likely to lead to more
frequent, unpredictable and extreme weather
episodes, with poor people disproportionately
affected by floods, droughts and contaminated
water. It will be increasingly important that
communities can access climate resilient water
and sanitation facilities and that action is taken to
mitigate the impact.
Against this backdrop, WaterAid’s strategy is to
bring strong partnerships and coalitions together
as we work towards our goal of water, sanitation
and hygiene for everyone by 2030. Through
four interconnected aims we will influence
Public Health depends on safe water,
sanitation and good hygiene. Without these
services deadly outbreaks of diseases such as
cholera and Ebola are likely to be more prevalent
and the impact of infectious diseases will be
exacerbated.
Financing universal access to safe water,
sanitation and hygiene will require a significant
increase in public and private funding. It will be
essential to target investment where it is most
needed and improve coordination with programs
in health, education and the environment.
Sustaining water and sanitation services
and hygiene is a significant challenge in many
developing countries. More attention needs to be
paid by governments and other service providers
to ensure the maintenance of facilities that are
appropriate affordable and accessible.
change: address inequality to access; strengthen
sustainable services; integrate WASH with other
essential areas of development; and improve
hygiene behavior.
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